a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-function glass cleaning apparatus.
b) Brief Description of the Prior Art
Known in the art, there is U.S. Pat. No. 2,082,582 of W.H. KLING granted on May 9, 1936. This patent is representative of many patents describing window cleaning devices having a handle perpendicular to a fluid tank which supports a wiper and a scraping element, such as a sponge. In this patent, the tank has a discharge opening in the form of a slot so that the cleaning fluid escaping through the slot will be taken up by a wick. Furthermore, by regulating the tightness of bolts, the rate of feed of the cleaning fluid from the tank to the wick can be adjusted rapidly.
Also known in the art, there is U.S. Pat. No. 2,886,839 of N. LEOPOLDI, granted on May 19, 1959. This patent describes a window cleaning device including a compressible container adapted for serving as a handle for cleaning elements mounted thereon. These elements are a sponge, a rubber blade and a rigid scraper. The container has a small aperture effective for producing a liquid spray when the container is filled with liquid.
Also known in the art, there is U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,945 of J. IGGULDEN et al., granted on Oct. 8, including a bottle used as a handle and having a sponge and a rubber blade attached thereto. The liquid cleaning solution contained in the bottle is discharged through bores therein, and the amount of discharged fluid is controlled by valve means. The valve means allow the liquid cleaning solution to exit the bottle through the bores only under pressure created by squeezing the bottle.
Also known in the art, there are the following patents which describe different glass cleaning devices:
Canadian patents nos.: 70,136 of E.M. FARMER, granted in 1901 258,979 of P. THOMPSON, granted on Mar. 16, 1926 373,714 of W. WESSELER, granted in 1938;
U.S. Pat. Nos.: 1,977,483 of L. KOUKAL, granted on Oct. 16, 1934 4,778,301 of P. SICOTTE, granted on Oct. 18, 1988 4,954,001 of A.E. BILLAT, granted on Sep. 4, 1990
One drawback with the glass cleaning devices shown in the above patents is that the rate of feed of the cleaning fluid from the container to the scraping element, such as the sponge, cannot be adjusted with an adequate precision and thereby a waste of cleaning fluid occurs.